SHAWANO - A young kangaroo named Lulu has died after it hopped away from its Shawano County home over the weekend and was hit by a pickup truck Tuesday night.

The incident happened about 7:30 p.m. on Porter Road near an intersection with Valley Road in the town of Waukechon, according to a press release from the Shawano County Sheriff's Department.

A Shawano man reported that he and his wife had spotted the kangaroo and were helping coax it across the road when a truck traveling east on Porter Road hit the man with the driver's side mirror in the chest and ran over his foot before hitting and killing the kangaroo, the release said. The man, age 69, was taken to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries.

The driver, described as a woman in her mid-20s between 5-feet-5 and and 5-feet-7 inches tall with glasses and shoulder length hair, reportedly stopped a short distance down the road and got out of the truck saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" and then drove away, the press release said.

Lulu was owned by Rita and John Mondus, who own Anello's Torch Lite Restaurant in Shawano. The restaurant has a petting zoo behind it with 79 animals, Rita Mondus said.

Mondus said the kangaroo, which was between 6 and 8 months old, was a lovable animal and adored by restaurant-goers and community members.

"I've got pictures of her with kids every night, someone was always feeding her a bottle or playing with her," she said."She was a special little girl and full of a lot of love."

Lulu lived in the Mondus' home with number of other animals, including Olaf, an albino wallaby with whom she was "best buddies," Mondus said.

Mondus said she let the two animals outside of her home in a fenced-in area for just about 15 minutes Sunday night. When she came back to check on them and bring them in, Lulu was gone.

"She had never ever tried to hop a fence, a chair or anything before," Mondus said. "It really was just an absolute fluke."

Mondus said some local residents got together, along with the police department, and were driving around to look for Lulu over the past few days, but they couldn't find her.

"The locals have been so great to us helping us search for Lulu and I just want to thank them for their efforts. It means so much," Mondus said.

Anyone with more information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Shawano County Sheriff’s Office at 715-526-3111.